Pliers



April 14, 1931. w. E. RlEs E11-'AL PLIERS l2 sheets-sheet 1 Filed sept; 19, 192e gwumtozs es 7: Fay,

"A1-)ril 14, l931-` 2 w. E. RlEs E'r AL 1,800,317

PLI'ERs Y Filed sept..19, 1928 2 sheets-sheet 2 ammini,

Patented Apr. 14, 1931 attr PLIERS Application filed September 19, '19228. Serial No. 306,991.

rrlliis invention relates to combined hand tools of the plier type, and has for its principal object the provision of a tool especially designed to perform all the necessary operations involved'in the electrical art, in cutting l off non-metallic sheathed cable, cutting the sheath circumferentially, stripping the shea-th, and stripping the insulation from the individual wires of the cable.

More specifically stated the invention proposes the construction of a plier tool having jaw plates in pairs,'preferably arranged perpendicularly to each other, one pair of plates being preferably disposed atright angles to the longitudinal dimension of the handles, said plates having coacting edges shaped for performing selectively the several functions as above enumerated. n

A further object of the invention `isfthe provision of the stripping apertures at a point or points slightly offset from the line of pull so that the pliers are slightly canted with respect to the wire, by the pulling force, thus providing a leading edge for 'the stripping apertures and thereby facilitating the stripping operation.

'Still another object of the invention is to provide the tool with a linger hook between the handles for the purpose `of making effective'a direct pull upon the pliers, avoiding the need of applying excessive force to the handles of the tool.

Other objects of the invention will appear as the following description of a preferred embodiment thereof proceeds.

In the drawings in which similar parts are designated by the same characters of reference in the several figures,

Figurev 1 is a side elevation of the tool, r A

Figure 2 is a plan view of the samerviewed from beneath,

Figure 3 is a side elevation showing the reverse side of the tool, parts of the handles being broken away, p

Figure 4 is a front elevation of the tool showing the end plates in closed position,

Figure 5 is a similar view of a slightlyl modified forni, partly in section,

Figure 6 is a perspective view of the pair of end blades shown in Figure 4l slightly separated,

Figure l plates,

Figure is a cross section of a sheathed cable of the type with which the present inn vention is particularly adapted to be used.

Referring now in detail to the several figures, the numerals 1 andl 2 designate, respectively, the interfitting plier members, con nected by a pivot 3. Said interfitting menibers are provided with the usual handles 4 and 5 at one end and at the other end with jaws, formed with facets 8 and 9 respectively, for the reception of the tool plates, the facets 7 is a similar view of the side Yof each pair lying preferably in the saine plane and the pairs of facets being 'preferably at right angles to one another, one pair being arranged at'the ends of the Jaws while the other pair Vis disposed on the lateral face of Y the jaws on one side. lt will be observedA iroiiiA Figure 2 that the jaws are angularly bent in one direction so as to provide room for theend facets.

The side facets are undercut at their peripheraledges so as to dovetail with the two plates which are corre spondingly peripherally beveled toenter beneath the undercut edges ofthe facets.

Referring to Figure 1 it will be noted that the side plates 10 andllare slipped into their respective facets from the outward end of the tool and secured in place by suitable lmeans such as the screws 12. The side plates act as cutting elements and are provided for a por-V tion of their 'length with meeting cutting edges `13, and in the remaining portion of their length they are provided with indented cutting edges lll vand 15 which form the peripheral boundary, when the aws are closed, of an aperture 16 similar in shape to the cable in connection with'which it is used and of smaller cross sectional area than the cross section of said cable. f

'llie operation of this pair of plates is obvi* ous from a description of its construction.

TWhen it is desired to sever a length of cable it is placed between the-cutting edges 13 and severedin the usual manner. l/Vlien it is desired to cut the sheath only of the-cable prepreferably i slightly l liminary to stripping the sheath, the cable is placed between the jaws against one of the edges 14 or l5 and the aws then closed upon it. The edges le and l5 penetrate the sheath but since they cannot come together the parts of the cable within said sheath are not disturbed.

Y The end plat es li' and 18 dovetail with the peripheral edges of the facets in which they seat in the same manner as do the. side plates and are similarly secured, for instance, by screws i9. rl`he end plates provided with cooperating edges designed when the jaws are closed to form an opening somewhat larger in size than the cable. rlhe walls of said aperture are provided at opposite points with cutting elements 2l. These may taire the form of simple projections, orif desired they may be substituted by the wheel cutters 22 shown in Figure 5. rlhe cable, having had its sheath cut by the edges le and l5 of the side plates as previously described, is placed within the aperture 20, and the aws closed, whereupon the opposed points 2l penetrate the sheath and as the tool is pulled longitudinally of the cable, the sheath is cut through lengthwise, on the upper and lower sides so that it is readily removed, or if the sheath is loose, it is pulled off by the mere engagement of the points 2l with the sheath.

The end plates are also preferably provided with cooperating semicircular edge portions 23 and 2li, forming when the aws are closed combined cutting and stripping apertures for removing the insulation from the individual wires which are in the cable. It is, of course, within the purview of the invention to provide as many of these individI Yual cutting and strippinff apertures as may be necessary. ln the presentinstance, only two have been shown, they being of a size cai pable of operating upon the most popular size of insulated wire, that is to say numbers l0 and lll. lllowever, in practice it is found that one size of cutting and stripping aperture is capable of handling all ordinary sizesofinsulated wires.

lt will be noted from Figures 4, 6 Vand 7 that the pair of side blades and pair of end blades are provided at their adjacent ends 'with interengaging edges 25 and 26 so that in addition to the securing means previously described, the side plates act as a retaining means for the end plates. lt is of course obvious that the arrangement of the interengaging edges might be reversed so that the end plates would assist in the retention of the side plates. By this construction a very rigid and reliable construction is provided.

lt will be noted from Figure 2 that the apertures for cutting and stripping the insulation from the individual wires are odset laterally with respect to a plane passing perl pendicular through the pivotal connection 3 at its middle point. This has the effect of canting the tool slightlyl when a pull is eX- erted upon the same in the act of stripping the insulation from a wire. Therefore, instead of the circumferential edge of the stripping aperture acting upon the insulation equally at all points, said aperture assumes an inclined position with respect to the axis of the wire so that one side of the same acts in advance of the rest of the circumferential edge, facilitating the cutting and removal of the insulation.

Since in its application as a stripping tool the device of the invention is designed to give a direct pull, means are provided for making this pull effective without the necessity of applying undue squeezing force to the handles of the pliers. ln the embodiment as shown this means takes the form of a lingerhook 30 intersecting a plane passing through the pivotal connection and the line of separation of the jaws of the tool.

While we have in the above description whatwe believed to be a preferred and practical form of our invention it is understood that other alternative arrangements and alterations in the construction of the application may be made without departing from the spirit of the invention.

W hat we claim as our invention is:

l. A pivoted tool for performing selective operations upon non-metallic sheathed cable of the type having a pluralityV of insulated wires comprising interfitting pivoted members including handles at one end kand tool supporting facesxat the other, blade seats at a side and end of each tool supporting face, blades arranged in cooperative pairs, one pair being slidably inserted in its seat, the adjacent edges of the blades of each pair being constructed to interfit whereby one pair is retained by the other.

2. A compound tool for performing selective'operations upon non-metallic sheathed cable of the typehaving a plurality of insulated wires, comprising interfitting pivoted members including handles at one endand tool supporting faces at the other end, blade seats at the `side and end of each tool supporting face, blades arranged in cooperating pairs, one pair being slidably inserted in its seat, the side blades being formed with cutlting edges while the endiblades are formed with cooperating stripping edges the side pair being' arranged to overlie the end faces 0f the end pair, for retaining the latter, and means for securing the end pair in place.

'ln testimony whereof we aiiiX our signatures.

WARREN E. RIES. JOSEPH REY. 

